If you are on a tight budget and can't afford the cost of a Llano based notebook, or simply just don't want a mobile PC then Legit Reviews can help you out with their new system build guide. For just under $300, shipping included, they will show you how to set up an A8-3870K based system on Gigabyte's GA-A55M-DS2 motherboard, 4GB DDR3-1333 and an OCZ Vertex Plus R2 60GB SATA II SSD along with an optical drive and a micro ATX case. It won't win any overclocking awards but it has enough outputs to make a decent HTPC system and will handle light gaming duties thanks to the integrated graphics on the A8-3870K

"Are you looking to build a budget PC, but have a limited budget to work with? We have had a number of readers and businesses that we consult with looking for new systems that will save power and be faster than the systems they currently have. When we started to look into low cost Do-It-Yourself (DIY) systems we found that you could easily build an AMD Llano system for less than $300. And when we say under $300 we mean with shipping included! You would think that for under $300 we would have to cut corners and use knock off brands, but that is not the case here. We are using the top of the line AMD A8-3870K APU and an OCZ Vertex Plus R2 60GB Solid-State Drive (SSD) into this system. The one corner that we did cut is..."

A PC Perspective Live Recap is a recorded version of a previously live streamed event from http://pcper.com/live. If you couldn't make the original air time, or simply want to re-watch, the on-demand version is provided below!

On the way to the Intel Developer Forum, Gigabyte's Colin Brix stopped by the PC Perspective offices to talk with us about the new Z77X-UP7 flagship motherboard with some really impressive overclocking features as well as the latest iteration of Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 5 technology.

While he was here, we also got to see a sneak preview of the mini-ITX motherboard, the Z77N-WiFi!

On Sunday September 9th at 3pm ET / 12pm PT, Gigabyte will be at the PC Perspective offices doing a live event to show off some new products as well as answer any questions our readers and viewers might have. It will all be happening on the PC Perspective Live! channel so be sure you are there later today to participate and possibly win some prizes from our friends at Gigabyte!

Just last month Gigabyte announced the release of the flagship Z77X-UP7 motherboard.

This motherboard features a 32+3+2 power phase technology, Ultra Durable 5 components, an all digital PWM, support for 4-Way graphics configurations and a very unique Direct Link PCIe x16 slot for maximum bandwidth.

The GIGABYTE Z77X-UP7 motherboard delivers a serious amount of power through its 32+3+2 power phase design (32 CPU phases, 3 Intel® HD Graphics, 2 VTT phases). With the industry’s highest phase count, the Z77X-UP7 motherboard is able to share the workload between 32 phases, ensuring lower working temperatures and maximum CPU power delivery.

Featuring the award winning GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ 5 technology with high current capable components including 60A rated PowIRstages® from IR, the Z77X-UP7 is able to deliver an astonishing 2,000W of power and at the same time, operate at remarkably low temperatures. This means that even overclocked, water cooled Z77X-UP7 systems are able to provide remarkable levels of performance.

The GIGABYTE Z77X-UP7 delivers the industry’s most scalable graphics platform, with support for both 4-way ATI CrossfireX™ and Nvidia SLI™. Providing PCI Express 3.0 x8 connectivity on 4 slots, the Z77X-UP7 delivers ultra smooth 3D rendering, blazing-fast frame rates and enhanced graphics capabilities for users wanting to get the highest levels of graphics performance from their system.

We will also touch on a new mini-ITX motherboard from Gigabyte as well - you'll definitely want to see this!

Here's where your participation comes in - submit your questions or thoughts on the products in our comments section below and we'll hand out a couple of prizes to two questions that we think are the best! There is no registration required, so post away and be sure to join us on Sunday at 3pm ET / 12pm PT at http://pcper.com/live to participate in our live event!

The newest gaming mouse from Gigabyte is the Aviva Krypton, relatively small and perfect for either hand. Along with removable weights of different sizes you also get two different types of feet so you really can adjust this mouse to fit your exact needs. Hardware Secrets were quite impressed with the software as well as the 32KB of memory onboard the mouse, not only can you reprogram the buttons and sensitivity there is good macro support as well. If your mouse isn't comfortable or is starting to age, you could do much worse than Gigabyte's Aviva line.

... and actually, just don't play Superman games.

"Who would have thought that Krypton, the home planet of Superman, would be reduced to the tiny size of a gaming-grade mouse? Well, that's the name of the new model from Gigabyte's Aivia line. It features an innovation right out of the mind of Jor-El, the scientist father of the Man of Steel: two interchangeable under plates, each one with a different set of feet (Teflon and ceramic) that delivers a different sliding control. We'll talk about this characteristic and other features after we describe the product."

For just under $200 you can pick up the Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H, a board that is a mix of high end and mid-range motherboard. On the negative side [H]ard|OCP once again were disappointed by the performance of the mouse in Gigabyte's UEFI, not a big issue but very annoying when you are used to competitors implementations that don't force you back to the keyboard. There were also a few aesthetic choices that [H] were not impressed by but the actual physical layout was done well. As there is no PLX chip you will be best off using a pair of GPUs as the maximum which makes it a great mid-range board but misses the high end mark. Check out how easy it is to overclock this motherboard in their full review.

"The Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H is a high end board with a mid-range price. Sound too good to be true? Well as it turns out it's still mostly a high end board with a few cost cutting measures here and there. The question I had to ask myself was: Is the Z77X-UD5H a high end dud or a mid-range marvel?"

During a European roadshow, Gigabyte showed off a new Mini-ITX form factor motherboard for the first time. Called the GA-H77N-WIFI, the motherboard is well suited for home theater and home server tasks. Based on the H77 chipset, it is compatible with the latest Intel Core i3 (coming soon), i5, and i7 "Ivy Bridge" processors. The board goes for an all-black PCB with minimal heatsinks on the VRMs, and the form factor is the same size as the motherboard that Ryan recently used in his Mini-ITX HTPC build.

The GA-H77N-WIFI features a LGA 1155 processor socket, two DDR3 DIMM slots, PCI Express slot, two SATA 3Gbps ports, two SATA 6Gbps ports, and an internal USB 3.0 header. There are also two Realtek Ethernet controller chips and a Realtek audio chip.

Rear IO on the Mini-ITX motherboard includes:

1 PS/2 port

2 USB 3.0 ports

2 HDMI ports

1 DVI port

2 Antenna connectors (WIFI)

4 USB 2.0 ports

2 Gigabit Ethernet ports

1 Optical S/PDIF port

5 Analog audio jacks

The dual Gigabit Ethernet ports are interesting. It could easily be loaded with open source routing software and turned into router/firewall/Wi-Fi access point. To really take advantage of the Ivy Bridge support, you could put together a nice media server and HTPC recording/streaming box (using something like SiliconDust's HDHomeRun networked tuners or Ceton's USB tuner since this board is very scarce in the way of PCI-E slots). What would you do with this Mini-ITX Gigabyte board?

Unfortunately, there is no word yet on pricing or availability, but the motherboard is likely coming soon. You can find more information on the motherboard over at tonymacx86, who managed to snag get some photos of the board.

At first glance the Gigabyte B75M-DH3 looks to have a typo as you would expect a Gigabyte board to start with the letter G and contain upwards of 11 numbers and letters afterwards, but this name indicates it is using the B75 Express chipset. That means full Ivy Bridge support, with a PCIe 3.0 16x slot, a pair of SATA 6Gbps ports and four USB 3.0 ports and it also sports Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 4 technology and a UEFI BIOS. Since this is a business oriented board it lacks some of the overclocking ability common to enthusiast boards and TechPowerUp found the back panel to be a little sparse, however at $80 this is a solid choice for any budget minded tech looking to put together an Ivy Bridge system.

"Gigabyte sent me one of their entry-level products to check out, called the B75M-D3H. Yet make no mistake, just because this product is value-oriented, does not mean it by any means cheap! What makes Gigabyte's B75M-D3H so great? We'll find out in our review."

Motherboard manufacturers are well-versed in marketing, and over-engineering. And when those two aspects combine, enthusiasts get some really cool feats of hardware overkill. Computex brought us two radical motherboard designs, for example. Gigabyte is at it again, and this time it is showing off the prowess of the company’s power phase design.

Using one of the company’s upcoming Z77 motherboards, Gigabyte was able to deliver 2,000 Watts of power through the LGA 1155 socket--did I mention overkill was the name of the game for this demonstration?

Specifically, Gigabyte paired its Z77X-UP7 motherboard with two Corsair 1200W power supplies and some laboratory gear to measure the power delivery. Using the 32 power phases in its “Ultra Durable 5” design, it was able to draw 300.6A, 300.7A, and 236.3A on three DC load testers. While drawing the total 837.6 amps, Gigabyte used a voltage meter to measure the current at 2.42 volts. Gigabyte then determined that the Z77 motherboard was able to deliver up to 2026.992 watts of power! The company claims that this would be enough power to support 25 Intel Core i7 3770K processors. It would also easily allow you to permanently destroy your processors, and really put that Intel overclocking warranty to the test (heh).

Needless to say, the board has some serious power phase and VRM hardware on board, and should easily handle the most extreme of overclocks. Granted, it is a marketing stunt, but it is a very cool one at that. As one area where motherboard companies heavily market, Gigabyte has quite the record for the others to beat. Here’s hoping that they attempt to break the record so that we can see more interesting tech demos. Maybe ASUS will bring out the Wolverine from the R&D lab, and see what its 40 power phases are really capable of!

What do you think about the Gigabyte claims? Below is the video that the company used to show off the Z77X-UP7 motherboard.